[Camron Rust]

(Credit for most of my content goes to Jon Scott, who has done an incredible amound of research on this topic)

Originally posted by JRutledge

...Rupp was known to have made statements very negative about Black players that he played against or were being recruited by other schools.

Rupp was know to have made statements very negative about all players that he played against, not just blacks.

"Rupp was unique," said Bill Spivey, a Kentucky star in the 1950s. "He wanted everybody to hate him and he succeeded. He called us names some of us had never heard before." - by Dave Kindred, Atlanta Journal and Constitution "The Baron Made Basketball Important," March 16, 1997.

"Adolph would never allow himself to get close to the players," [former player Tommy] Kron said. "He was a tough, gruff kind of guy who would verbally abuse his players to get them to play harder." by Jo-Ann Barnas, Detroit Free Press, "They Changed the Game: Texas Western," March 29, 1996.

Originally posted by JRutledge

Also Black players in the state of Kentucky decided to go to other schools in the south instead of go to Kentucky because they felt Rupp was not genuine when he was "recruiting" them.

If you check out his recruiting style, he essentially let players come to him. He'd fail miserable as a recruiter by today's standards (and yesterday') if it weren't for the natural draw of playing for such a powerhouse team.

...he was never intimately involved or interested in recruiting. This was a man who, before the NCAA outlawed the practice, used to hold a tryout of high school players during the summer where he would pick the cream of the crop for enrollment at the University, and send the other players throughout the rest of the South to find a roster spot. This was a man who had an All-American [James Jordan from North Carolina] approach him and ask to transfer to Kentucky, despite Rupp telling him he didn't think he was the kind of player suited to the fast-paced style of the Wildcats.

During the latter stages of his career, he had attained his stature within college basketball and wasn't used to having to go out and work for talent. Much of the recruiting work was delegated to his assistants and even his players at time. Rupp has been criticized subsequently by those who are intent on making Rupp's lack of effort in recruiting blacks during the latter stage of his career as evidence of his racist attitude. No doubt Rupp felt somewhat uncomfortable recruiting blacks who he had previously only had minimal contact with. But Rupp did make an effort to recruit. These critics, when studying his recruiting efforts of black athletes, fail to comprehend his recruiting practices of most all athletes.

"Let me assure you that even if you were white and 7 feet, 8 inches tall, and you came in to see Mr. Rupp, he would just sit there and look at you. You wouldn't get any feeling that, 'Boy, you're just terribly important to us.' And we were at a time when these young black athletes needed to be told, 'We want you more than anything else. Here's a sense of the kind of life you'll have on campus.' He just didn't have that." - Quote by Robert Johnson in book by Frank Fitzpatrick, And the Walls Came Tumbling Down, Simon & Schuster, 1999, pg. 146.

"My view of that is I do not subscribe to the group that thinks that Adolph was a racist. I believe that for two reasons. One, he wanted to win too much. And the other reason is Adolph had reached that point where he didn't recruit much of anyone. He was so used to potential All-America coming to him that he just didn't get off his duff to recruit." - Quote by Robert Johnson in book by Frank Fitzpatrick, And the Walls Came Tumbling Down, Simon & Schuster, 1999, pg. 148.


"Practically every day his senior year, Butch Beard said, 'some Kentucky alum' came by his home. 'They wanted Kentucky to be the first to integrate the SEC. They said if Adolph did it, everybody would.'" - by Dave Kindred, Atlanta Journal and Constitution, "Facts Belie Stereotype of Racist Rupp at UK," May 11, 1997.

Originally posted by JRutledge

The Bottom line Cameron has the right to his opinion. That does not make him a bad person. Just do not try to rewrite history and the opinions of those that were around during that time.

If you'd even take a moment to set aside your agenda, you'd perhaps realize that "history" is not as you seem to know it. "History" used to automatically categorize blacks in a bad light. Much of that has been corrected over the years. The pendulum swung the other way after the civil rights movement...looking for prominent individuals to classify as racist despite reality.


Check out the opinions of those actually around at that time....the Texas Western players universally report that race was not an issue.

"We didn't see this as a black-white thing -- we just loved to play ball," - Bobby Joe "Slop" Hill, Texas Western Guard, Bergen Record, March 3, 1996.

"For us, I honestly don't think it was a black-white thing. It was Texas Western going up against Kentucky, who's been there before." - Nevil "The Shadow" Shed, by Jack Wilkinson, Atlanta Journal and Constitution, April 1, 1991.

"It just happened that we had five black starters, and Kentucky had five white starters. We were never coached like that. We weren't into black-white. There weren't any racial slurs. We never heard Pat Riley, Louie Dampier, those great Kentucky players, say a word." - David Lattin, by Dave Kindred The Sporting News, "Haskins truly put his heart into game. Winner of 719 games, national title had his share of suffering," August 31, 1999.

"To us it was a pride game," said Texas Western's Harry Flournoy. "It was just simply an opportunity to show the nation what we had. We didn't say, 'We're going to go out there and whip those white players' butts.'" - by Pat Forde, USA Today, "Legacy of Rupp Slow to Recede Repercussions of 1966 Title Game Still Echo in Many Ears," April 2, 1996.

"That part [black-white] never crossed our minds," say former Texas Western guard Orsten Artis. - by Curry Kirkpatrick, Sports Illustrated, "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," April 1, 1991.

Originally posted by JRutledge


I guess if Cameron feels Rupp was not a racist, all the great basketball players that went to other schools were completely and totally wrong? At some point white people have to accept the fact that people of color are not going to accept your positions on race just because you feel someone is not racist or an action is not racist. Rupp side himself with the very racist side of Kentucky and parts of the south and talked openly about not have Black players at his university. It also took almost 30 years for that university to hire a Black coach in a program where a majority of their players were Black to begin with. Rupp's legacy is easy to see for many that look like me.

Peace

Several of those black players who went to other schools have been quoted as saying they didn't want to be the first one....not that UK/Rupp didn't want them. At some point black people will have to accept that fact that white people are not going to accept your positions on race just because you feel someone is racist or an action is racist.

The pattern of black players is essentially the same for nearly all major universities. To single out Rupp and UK is disinginueous and clearly reeks of jealousy more than racism.

So what if it took thirty years to before UK had a black coach. The fact that 20% of UK's coaches since 1930 have been black is far above most, if not all, of the nation
s major colleges. I don't see a black coach at Duke or UNC or Indiana. Does that make Smith, Knight, or Krzyzewski
racists.